MFMC/NCO

instructions in battle. A Roman soldier's training was long, detailed and intense. The Roman commanders had found that the tactical and administrative requirements of drilling and fielding a successful army absorbed all their time, thus necessity caused them to turn to the ranks for assistance. The upper echelons of Roman leadership picked exceptional soldiers to be leaders of 10 other soldiers, and assistants to commanders of 100 and 600 soldiers. In these roles, they were to supervise individual training, carry out their commander's plans, and perform administrative and logistical tasks. As such, they were the first "noncommissioned" officers called Principalis". In the military sense, "Non-Commissioned", then as is now, means that entry to or occupation of a position of responsibility and authority is based not on 'education and commissioning', but upon demonstrated competency and continued performance, and that personnel in that position are key or essential for the effective operation of units.


Genesis of the Modern NCO's Role

The historical NCO we would recognize most easily today, can be traced back to Terran Year 1775 on Old Earth. The early organization of the American Continental Army was patterned after the British: officers were appointed / elected from the aristocracy, and in turn, sergeants were appointed / elected from the ranks. But there was little uniformity in qualifications, duties, responsibilities, authority and standards for these positions. General Washington's newly-appointed Inspector General, Baron Von Steuben, began working to correct these deficiencies at Valley Forge, where Washington's disheartened troops were then encamped. Steuben's "Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States" appeared on 29 March 1797, and for the next 33 years, was the official manual of the US Army. Commonly known as "The Blue Book", it contained about 100 small pages setting forth clearly and simply the fundamentals of guard duty, organization, field operations and drill. There were instructions for leaders from the Commandant of a regiment down to the lowly Corporal, they clearly established guidelines for selection and outlined the duties of the non-commissioned officer, that have proven valid over the years and is still used to this day.

Steuben's instructions for the commandant of a regiment states:

"The choice of non-commissioned officers is also an object of the greatest importance....The order and discipline of a regiment depend so much on their behavior that too much care cannot be taken in preferring none to that trust but those who by their merit and conduct are entitled to it.

Honesty, sobriety, and a remarkable attention to every point of duty, with neatness to their dress, are indespensable requisites; a spirit to command respect and obediance from the men, an expertness in performing every part of the exercise, and an ability to teach it are also absolutely necessary.

These regulations also gave instructions for sergeants and corporals, impressing on them the importance of their duty and responsibility toward discipline and order of the company. They cautioned against "too great familiarity with the men" but insisted that each soldier "be treated with great regard". A further word of caution was "by a contrary conduct they forfeit all regard, and their authority becomes despised".

The NCO Today

The NCO was and is promoted from the ranks and charged with duties that assist and complement the officer in the discharge of his or her own duties. In legal terms, the NCO serves as an agent of the officer, and other organizers of the Corps, and derive a arge measure of their legal authority from those sources. The complexities and diversity of leadership requirements call for the allotcation of specific types of tasks to various levels in the military hierarchy. A clear understanding of those specific responsibilities is essential to permit leaders to discharge their own assigned tasks, and such an understanding is also essential to avoid interfereing with the accomplishments of other leaders, or tasks, which are their assigned responsibilities.

NCO Responsibilities

Below are the responsibilities of the NCO. It is the duty of the NCO to faithfully and completely fulfill their obligations with regard to the responsibilities.